When a wild kitten is saved at an early age, it is quite feasible to socialize him and convert him into an ideal family companion. It can take some time, but one shelter devised a method to make the procedure more faster and more enjoyable.
Staff at the Animal Rescue League of Boston (ARL) were discussing feral cats with a volunteer who was a skilled seamstress ten years ago. Feral kittens 4 months and younger can be socialized into pleasant, loving family members, but they require a lot of exposure to people, which might take up a lot of time that shelter workers may not have.
A Babybjörn is a form of baby carrier in which a parent straps her infant to her body, and a Kitten Bjorn operates in the same way. It’s simply a vest that staff and volunteers may wear with a little mesh pouch on the front for kittens to sit in while whomever is carrying them goes about their regular activities.
“The goal was to have something that would allow the kittens to mingle while keeping their hands free, allowing staff and volunteers to multi-task (answering phones, conversing with customers, etc.),” Michael DeFina, communications and media relations officer at ARL Boston, told The Dodo. “The design allows the kitten to be stimulated in a safe manner while being continually observed by whoever is wearing the vest.” We’ve made three so far, and we’re hoping to make more.”
ARL has been utilizing the vests for the past seven years and want to create more so that it can continue to use them in the future. Since ARL began employing the vests, the process of socializing feral kittens has become significantly faster — so much so that feral kittens are now ready for adoption in as little as 48 hours, and sometimes even sooner.
“Turnaround for socializing may be pretty swift, with the kitten beginning to purr as a sign of success,” DeFina added. “Sometimes a kitten may begin purring within just an hour, sometimes it takes a number of days, but they have proven to be useful in trying to fast socialize kittens during the seven years of their use.”
